Former Labour lawmaker Tom Harris said his close friend Jamie Reed's resignation as an MP is rooted in his disagreement with Jeremy Corbyn, despite his claims to the contrary.

Reed, a prominent member of the group of Labour MPs who tried to oust Corbyn earlier this year, insisted his decision to resign the seat of Copeland was not borne of animosity towards the Labour leader, but rather a desire to spend time with his young family.

Harris, who has a young family of his own, agreed that it can be difficult to juggle this responsibility with the work of an MP, but added that Corbyn's perceived lack of electoral prospects played a key role in Reed's decision to step down.

"[Reed's] been unhappy for some time since before Jeremy became leader," Harris said, "[but] within 30 seconds of Jeremy standing up to make his acceptance speech as Labour leader in 2015, Jamie announced his resignation from the front bench. He was the first member of the shadow cabinet to resign.

"There is no prospect of Labour being in government. the only point of being in politics is to be in government."

However Harris also suggested that Reed "has been very careful not to make this about Jeremy Corbyn" and said that this is the right decision.